Responsibilities must be shared to prevent trafficking: NCW chief

The state alone can't prevent trafficking and people must get together to fight the stigma associated with it at the grassroot level and share responsibilities to bring changes in rigid mindsets, National Commission of Women (NCW) chairperson Lalitha Kumaramangalam said Wednesday.

"Often in our country there is excessive dependence on the state to take action. But in the case of trafficking, stigma associated with it makes it important to address the issue at the individual level," she said at the "National Consultation on Preventing Trafficking in Women and Girls: State Accountability and Community Action" at the India International Centre here.

"I am not negating how much a state can do it its level. We can look at areas like education, nutrition and training, but at the grassroot level people have to come together to change the notion about trafficking victims," she added.

Her reply came after a series of panelists debated extensively on what the state can do to prevent trafficking and how rehabilitation of victims is an important ingredient in shaping up lives of many women and girls.

While the women's panel chief admitted the state needs to train its own workforce to sensitise towards this issue, she also pointed out how building "a trust relationship between the state and people" was important.

Before the beginning of the session, Madhubala Nath, ex-policy advisor to the UN, correlated trafficking with entrenched ideology of male dominance in the society.

"The gender biased and trafficking is about relationship between men struggling to position themselves in a society that values aggressively powerful men," she said.

The aberration between cause and consequences is also leading to a wide chasm, she said, noting people are quick to "stigmatise" consequences and choose to "ignore" the cause that led to that condition.

These day-long deliberations also pointed out how fund constraints cripple rehabilitation process at many levels, and how issues of jurisdiction can delay rescue operations.

However, they all agreed that such issues need to be dealt with compassion and sensitivity and people working in this area should create a cohesive support system.